Ramaphosa deploys over 500 SANDF members to KZN after deadly anti-immigration protests

President Cyril Ramaphosa has deployed SANDF to assist with anti-immigration protests in KwaZulu Natal.

Image: Jacques Naude/African News Agency/ANA

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the deployment of 510 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) until November 30, following anti-immigration protests that left one person dead, shops looted and vehicles torched in Durban.

The deployment, which will cost R34 million, is intended to support police in maintaining law and order under Operation Prosper, an ongoing joint security operation.

Ramaphosa notified Parliament of the decision in a letter dated October 21, saying soldiers would remain “on standby for any eventualities”.

The move follows renewed unrest in Durban in early October, after KZN Premier Thami Ntuli requested military assistance.

During the initial violence, 14 vehicles were set alight, foreign-owned shops were looted and police fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

Tensions continued throughout the month. On October 22, an Ugandan national was beaten to death during a protest march in central Durban, intensifying concerns over attacks on foreign nationals.

Police arrested five men, aged between 19 and 46, in connection with the murder and attempted murder of foreign nationals.

By October 11, authorities had also arrested 30 people nationwide for public violence, unlawful gathering, obstruction and related offences.

Of those arrests, 25 were made in KZN and five in Gauteng, where similar protests took place in Soweto.

Ramaphosa attributed the violence to misinformation surrounding a Constitutional Court judgment on asylum applications.

The ruling was misrepresented as giving undocumented migrants sweeping legal protections, fuelling tensions over immigration.

Government officials have clarified that the judgment restored access to an asylum determination process for certain applicants.

It did not automatically grant refugee status, permanent residence or blanket amnesty to undocumented migrants.

The distinction has become central to the government's response as authorities seek to contain unrest while correcting claims circulating about the ruling.

SANDF members have reportedly already been seen in parts of Durban, although the presidential notice provides for the deployment through November 30.

Authorities have stressed that immigration enforcement remains the responsibility of the state, warning that public anger over immigration cannot justify vigilantism, arson, looting or attacks on people and property.